BEAVERCREEK — Sandy Gargas of Beavercreek joined six other volunteers on a special Samaritan’s Purse team to deliver shoebox gifts to children in Rwanda, sharing a message of encouragement, hope and love through the project Operation Christmas Child.
Gargas volunteers year-round leading the local Operation Christmas Child team, mobilizing others in the community to pack and collect shoebox gifts filled with toys, school supplies and hygiene items for children in need overseas.
Gargas, who has spent five years packing and collecting gifts in Beavercreek, has now personally placed these shoeboxes into children’s hands.
More than 936,000 children in Rwanda have received Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts and this season 117,624 children will receive gifts. Since 2010 129,413 Rwandan children have participated in Operation Christmas Child’s discipleship and evangelism program, The Greatest Journey.
National Collection Week for gift-filled shoeboxes is Nov. 13-20. For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call 937-374-0761 or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 146 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 160 countries and territories. For many of these children, the gift-filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received.
